The Mysticism of Saint Augustine: Re-Reading the Confessions

by John Peter Kenney

Overview

Augustine's vision at Ostia is one of the most influential accounts of mystical experience in the Western tradition, and a subject of persistent interest to Christians, philosophers and historians.
This book explores Augustine's account of his experience as set down in the Confessions and considers his mysticism in relation to his classical Platonist philosophy. John Peter Kenney argues that while the Christian contemplative mysticism created by Augustine is in many ways founded on Platonic thought, Platonism ultimately fails Augustine in that it cannot retain the truths that it anticipates. The Confessions offer a response to this impasse by generating two critical ideas in medieval and modern religious thought: firstly, the conception of contemplation as a purely epistemic event, in contrast to classical Platonism; secondly, the tenet that salvation is absolutely distinct from enlightenment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134442713
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/19/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	376 KB

About the Author

John Peter Kenney is Dean and Professor of Religious Studies at St Michael's College in Vermont.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction Part I: Flight to the Alone 1. The Root of the Soul 2. A Long Life Stretched Out 3. A Kind of Rest Part 2: Vision at Ostia 1. Books of the Platonists 2. A Trembling Glance 3. The Presence of Truth Part Three: A Living Soul of the Faithful 1. A Home of Bliss 2. Total Concentration of the Heart 3. Snatched up to Paradise Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"This fine book gives us an Augustine who is not captive to the vapid spirituality of our age." — Robert Louis Wilken, University of Virginia, First Things

From the Publisher